Letter to the Editor | No conspiracy in JFK assassination

Vice President, Democrat Alben Barkley. (AP Photo)

When all of the networks start their coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, try remembering this much. There was no conspiracy. There was no "magic bullet." There was no shooter on the infamous grassy knoll. It was Lee Harvey Oswald with a World War II vintage Italian Carcano firing from the Texas School Book Depository. Everything else is Hollywood fiction. Americans in 1963 up until today refuse to believe a young, impressionable, 24-year-old ex-Marine could assassinate the president of the United States. Oswald was trained as a marksman in the USMC.

My wife and I have been to Dallas and stood in the street at Dealey Plaza where the fatal shot landed. From there to the window Oswald fired from, it is an easy shot, especially from a trained sniper. When Kennedy was struck by the first shot John Connally was turned around facing him, telling Kennedy how apparent it was that people in Texas liked him. The bullet struck Kennedy in the back just below his neck, it existed out the front, and struck Connally on his wrist. The projectile followed a straight line. The second shot struck the concrete pavement. The third and final shot hit Kennedy in the head.

It was over in seconds. History changed. But the fact remains there was one shooter, his name was Lee Harvey Oswald, and he died two days later after being shot by Dallas night club owner Jack Ruby, who died in prison in 1967. All of the talk about the CIA and Fidel Castro and the Mafia makes for interesting scenarios. But it was lowly Lee Harvey Oswald who planned the assassination and carried it to fruition. America doesn't want to believe such a minor player could be responsible for such a horrific event. But he was. So try remembering that today at noon and think about what took place 50 years ago in Dallas that changed not only America but the world.

ROBERT ZOELLER

Louisville 40291

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Letter to the Editor | No conspiracy in JFK assassination

When all of the networks start their coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, try remembering this much. There was no conspiracy. There was no 'magic bullet.' There was no